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Shared values – the state we are in

Dr Abdallah Bin Bayyah, Forum for Promoting Peace in Muslim Societies

he study of values comes under the broader field

of ethics, the field of enquiry that looks into what

is good and correct with respect to standards that

may be personal or cultural, and can be used as a norma-

tive standard for behaviour. Values can be defined as

ethical principles that determine honourable and praise-

worthy conduct, where acting contrarily is shameful and

worthy of condemnation. Philosophers have debated since

time immemorial about whether there are such things as

universal values. There is agreement that shared values

exist on a cultural level. Specific societies all have norms

and values that are derived from custom, tradition, or reli-

gious belief. The dispute is whether there are any values

that transcend the confines of a particular society or

culture and are shared by all of humanity.

The dispute hinges on the question of the true nature of

values. Is there an absolute and objective standard of what is

good? Is ‘good’ something universal? Or is it always relative

and subjective, dependent on the interests of an individual or

group? This is a point of fierce philosophical debate that has

engendered numerous schools of ethical thought, including

utilitarianism, pragmatism and idealism, as well as a host of

applications for economics, politics and political science. I

will not dwell on each of these schools of thought on its own.

Rather, I will discuss two general philosophical tendencies,

that of moral relativism and that of universalism. Then I will

discuss what Islam teaches about this matter.

Moral relativists believe that there are no universal values

and that moral or ethical propositions do not reflect absolute

and universal moral truths; relativists instead make claims rela-

tive to social and cultural circumstances that vary according

to time and place. Conditions for people living in the Arabian

desert are different than those for people living in a valley in

the Himalayas, or on the Chinese coast, or the Indian coast, or

along a great river delta. Then – the relativists argue – there

is the obscurity and capriciousness of how moral standards are

conceptually understood. There are various concepts of prop-

erty, family, marriage, reason and of God. Norms of conduct

that prevail over one environment in a given historical era

could very well be destructive if transplanted to another. Each

society faces specific challenges at various times in its history.

The ideal solutions to these challenges will necessarily differ.

Consequently – the relativists argue – the idea that there are

Image: Forum for promoting Peace in Muslim Societies

At the Religions for Peace conference in Abu Dhabi, 2014, spiritual leaders gathered to set out an action plan to combat violent extremism

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